Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, and Lafarge, have unanimously concluded plans to help the Federal Government (FG) in actualising its plan to build 300,000 homes under its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).
ESP is an intervention programme designed to cushion the effects of the raging COVID-19 pandemic for low-income earners captured under the National Social Housing Programme (NSHP).
Disclosing this development in an interview, Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, stated that the aforementioned cement producers have reached an agreement with the government to supply their products at a discounted rate.
“The ESP is coordinated by the Family homes fund which is a limited liability being supervised by the Minister of Finance, while the Government is bringing the funding.
They have built over 8000 of such houses in Borno state. The FG has also had discussions with the three big cement companies, Dangote, Lafarge, and BUA to supply cement at a discounted rate and they have agreed,” Akande was quoted as saying.
How the discounts from BUA, Lafarge and Dangote will help
Due to alarming inflation and unfavourable forex for manufacturers, cement prices have been unstable since last year. In January 2021, cement sold for N3,200, but rose by 44%, as it sold for N4,600 around December of the same year.
In Q3 2021, the trio giant cement companies, raked in a combined revenue of N469 billion in the third quarter, a 5.27% decrease when compared to the N495 billion reported in the previous quarter.
What you should know about the NSHP scheme
BizWatch Nigeria understands that the the NSHP is the housing component of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s ESP programme, which was designed to deliver affordable housing and millions of jobs for Nigerians.
Under this programme, 300,000 homes will be constructed in all states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the Family Homes Funds (FHF) as the lead developer, however other Nigerian partnerships and collaborations are welcomed to facilitate the construction of these homes.
